UPPER TAMAKOSHI Road Obstruction?

Khandichaur-Charikot road expansion project is creating obstructions in the way to completing the Upper Tamakoshi as scheduled

After
overcoming the major challenges in achieving progress after the Gurkha
Earthquake, the 486-MW Upper Tamakoshi project is now back in motion. However,
how project overcomes the latest obstruction created by Khandichaur-Charikot
road section will determine the chances of completion of the project in the new
proposed schedule by the June 2018 deadline.

Upper
Tamakoshi Hydropower Project overcame all the challenges it faced following the
earthquake and completed eighty percent of the construction work. If the
working pace of Khandichaur-Charikot road expansion project does not pick up,
the hydro project is likely to be delayed again.

Due
to the road expansion, the process of transporting heavy electro-mechanical
equipment and other construction materials has been affected. As the road is in
a bad shape, Upper Tamakoshi is facing difficulty in transporting the necessary
equipment for completing its work as scheduled.

“The
road is the lifeline for the project. The road has been affecting even our day
to day work because of traffic disturbance in the section between Charikot and
Lamasanghu,”said Bigyan Prasad
Shrestha, project chief of Upperr Tamakosi Hydropower Project. “To
overcome the challenges, the project has already built several intermediate storage
sites on the way to project site for storing heavy consignments.” “We are also
coordinating with road authority in order to minimize the effects.”

Under
lot-2, there need to transport heavy machineries like gates, penstock, still
pipes, stop-loges among the necessary hydro-mechanical components.Tex Maco Rail
and Engineering Ltd of India is the contractor of lot 2.

If
the equipment, worth millions of rupees,do not get transported through the new
diversion built over Sunkosi river by June or onset of monsoon, the transport
movement will halt for until November.

Although
the project officials claim that the project will be completed by June 2018,
given the current pace of construction project, the second lot of
hydro-mechanical components is likely to create work delays.

“The
project has to be completed within the deadline. We are ready to settle
problems and hurdles if there are any,” said Ghishing, addressing the project’s
contractor company Sino-Hydro Consultant Company and the project management.
“If the project requires, I am ready to stay here for months. We should meet
the new deadline,” directed Ghishing.

Meanwhile,
Ghising directed the contractor company to dig the remaining 990-metre tunnel
in three shifts. The total length of the tunnel is 8.6 km. "The project
needs to be completed by schedule. I want to support the completion of the
project.”

He
also directed civil contractors Sino Hydro to mobilize the necessary manpower
to run in three phases to achieve the target by the deadline of June 2018.

With
a committed team led by head of Upper Tamakosi Bigyan Shrestha and strong
support from NEA MD Ghishing, everything is perfectly going inside the project.
In terms of progress also, as much as 88 per cent of the total construction
work has been completed. If the road project supports the equipment transport,
the hydel project can complete in time.